c2c Railway has carried out a full-scale fire evacuation exercise at Fenchurch Street station, working alongside the London Fire Brigade to further strengthen emergency preparedness. The simulation took place on Sunday 2 November, during a planned station closure for engineering works, allowing a rare opportunity to run a live scenario without affecting passengers.

The drill involved a staged incident in which smoke appeared to be coming from within the station. Four fire engines and crews from the London Fire Brigade were deployed as part of the exercise, working with c2c colleagues to clear the building and locate the source of the smoke. The operation offered an insight into how teams from both organisations would respond during a real emergency.

According to c2c, the age and layout of Fenchurch Street station – one of London’s oldest termini – makes regular emergency planning vital. Stuart Browning, c2c’s Safety and Operations Director, said:

“For all of us at c2c, the safety of our customers and colleagues has always been our highest priority. Fenchurch Street station is one of London’s oldest termini and I am very proud of our teams for seeing this as an opportunity to ensure our colleagues are well trained and better equipped to respond to emergency events. We’d like to thank the London Fire Brigade supporting our simulated exercise, as well as for taking the time to ensure firefighters better understand Fenchurch Street station.”

The London Fire Brigade said the exercise also gave firefighters important familiarity with the unique layout of the station. Station Commander Tony Jackson stated:

“These kinds of opportunities are rare because of the impact it has on the station. It’s a chance for our officers to work with the station supervisors and their staff to make sure the procedures are correct and in-place.”

The scenario was designed and led by c2c Fire Safety Manager Tony Parkin, a former firefighter, who used the exercise to test evacuation and communication procedures. He explained:

“It is really important to carryout periodic training exercises to demonstrate how well staff are trained in the event of an emergency. We successfully achieved this at Fenchurch Street by carrying out a full evacuation on 2 November. To do this, we simulated a fire within the basement of the building – with persons reported missing. This gave us the opportunity to test our local emergency plans and other important procedures. I am proud to say that c2c colleagues worked very well alongside the emergency services and offered their knowledge and expertise when call upon. We will continue to evaluate and review our emergency procedures to ensure the highest levels of customer safety.”

c2c confirmed it will review the findings of the drill and use them to further refine its emergency response planning.

Image: c2c